Kolkata Knight Riders did not start their 2021 IPL campaign in the finest of forms. They managed to win only two games out of the seven played in India. However, they look set to make amends to their season as the second half begins in the UAE from the 19th of September. KKR will be beginning their campaign against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who got the win over Kolkata in April.
The IPL had to be halted midway in April as the Coronavirus widespread across the country made it impossible for the BCCI to conduct the tournament. However, the players and staff, and the Board have managed to wait for five months and begin the second half of IPL.
As far as KKR’s squad is concerned, they have faced major blows as Aussie spearhead Pat Cummins has decided to opt-out of the tournament due to personal reasons. His replacement has come in the form of Kiwi pacer Tim Southee filling in for him. Other than this change, all other players have shown up for the second half of the tournament in UAE. They will be taking on RCB on the 20th of September in Abu Dhabi.
The squad will be looking similar to the one which played in India, as Brendon McCullum did not believe in squad rotation much. He did manage to give several players a chance in order to give them a chance to showcase their talent. However, the pitches of the UAE will demand more spinners in the main 11.
With the likes of Varun Chakravarthy and Harbhajan Singh in the squad, KKR has some mighty options in the spin department. They could play Shakib Al Hasan as another spinning option who would come in handy with the bat too.
The opening pair of Nitish Rana and Shubhman Gill will be looking forward to a better performance in the UAE. Rana is the highest run-scorer at the moment for KKR and Rahul Tripathi follows him in second place. However, these three batsmen need to fire KKR towards stronger and better scores which will be defended on the pitches of UAE.
With the likes of Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, and Andre Russell in the squad to provide the extra firepower in the middle overs, KKR can overcome their poor performances from April. They need the experience from these three to show them the right direction and path towards glory.
On the fast bowling front, they have the services of Andre Russel. In addition to this, Southee would come as a like-for-like replacement instead of Cummins. Prasidh Krishna who impressed one and all in the India-England series will be their premier Indian bowler.
This would be KKR’s best eleven on the field with the likes of Narine on the bench. He could come in place of Shakib depending on the team dynamics and form. With only seven matches remaining, KKR needs to go for the 100% winning record in order to find a place in the playoffs for themselves. It might seem impossible for many, however, it is certainly not improbable for McCullum and his men.
